Bald men have 'higher risk of developing heart disease'
Bald men have a higher risk of developing heart disease than men with a full head of hair, a new study suggests.
'Scary statistics' and concern over calcium supplements
Researchers say taking calcium supplements nearly doubles your risk of having a heart attack. But is the research actually any good?
Anyone over 50 could potentially qualify for statins
Cholesterol-lowering drugs can benefit even apparently healthy people with no previous history of heart disease, a study has found.
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Bald men have 'higher risk of developing heart disease'
Bald men have a higher risk of developing heart disease than men with a full head of hair, a new study suggests.
Read the full story'Scary statistics' and concern over calcium supplements
Researchers say taking calcium supplements nearly doubles your risk of having a heart attack. But is the research actually any good?
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Anyone over 50 could potentially qualify for statins
Cholesterol-lowering drugs can benefit even apparently healthy people with no previous history of heart disease, a study has found.
Read the full storyBritish Heart Foundation: 'In principal we approve of patients taking statin'
Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation has told ITV News that a new study claiming that cholesterol-lowering drugs can also help healthy people could be helpful, but would not suggest "medicalising the whole country".
More than a third 'not using cholesterol drugs'
More than a third of people prescribed drugs for high cholesterol are putting themselves at a dramatically increased risk of heart problems by failing to take their medication for the condition, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) has warned.
The BHF said online research into 1,025 people in the UK conducted in February has shown 36% of cholesterol patients fail to take their prescribed medication for the condition.
The research has coincided with a study that also found cholesterol-lowering drugs could benefit even apparently healthy people with no previous history of heart disease.
'More pragmatic to use age as an indicator' for statin treatment
UK experts have said more affordable ways of identifying patients suitable for statin therapy were needed, after a recent study found that the treatment could benefit even healthy people with no history of heart disease.
In an accompanying article, Professor Shah Ebrahim and Dr Juan Casas from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine wrote:
"Because most people older than 50 years are likely to be at a greater than 10% 10-year risk of CVD (cardio-vascular disease), it would be more pragmatic to use age as the only indicator of statin prescription. This approach would avoid the costs".
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Guideline for statin therapy 'should be reconsidered'
Cholesterol-lowering drugs can benefit even apparently healthy people with no previous history of heart disease, a study has found.
The authors of the new research say the findings suggest international treatment guidelines for statins should be reconsidered.
– Professor Colin Baigent, from Oxford UniversityThis benefit greatly exceeds any known hazards of statin therapy. Under present guidelines, such individuals would not typically be regarded as suitable for [low density lipoprotein] LDL-lowering statin therapy.
The present report suggests, therefore, that these guidelines might need to be reconsidered.
Treatment for guidelines for statins 'should be reconsidered'
A study has found Statins reduced the risk of serious vascular events by more than a fifth for each unit reduction in levels of harmful cholesterol. In individuals where the five-year chance of a major event was less than 10%, the already small risk was significantly lowered.
''This large-scale research found even people at low risk of heart disease could benefit from statin therapy''
– June Davison, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation''The findings will help to inform policy and treatment guidelines in the future''
Statins 'could benefit the healthy'
A study has found Cholesterol-lowering drugs can benefit even apparently healthy people with no previous history of heart disease.
Experts say the findings suggest everyone over a certain age should qualify for statin therapy.
Many doctors already take the pills, which lower levels of cholesterol in the blood.
But NHS prescriptions of the drugs are restricted to patients judged to have at least a 20% risk of a "major vascular event" in the next 10 years.
Watchdog clears Vinnie Jones CPR advert
A British Heart Foundation (BHF) advert featuring actor Vinnie Jones carrying out CPR has been cleared following complaints that he performs the technique incorrectly, the Advertising Standards Authority has ruled.
The BHF said the campaign aimed to increase bystander intervention in events of cardiac arrest, adding that they knew of 15 reported instances of people applying lessons from the advert with a positive outcome.
The "appalling" survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK showed fewer than 10% of these casualties survived, but research had found people were more likely to start CPR if they only had to carry out the "hands-only" version, the foundation said.